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The European Commission launched two major projects that examine the mapping of broadband data on a European scale: Mapping of fixed and mobile broadband services in Europe (SMART 2014/0016) and Study on Broadband and Infrastructure Mapping (SMART 2012/0022).

Background

In the framework of the Digital Single Market strategy and the Connectivity for a European Gigabit Society, the European Commission aims to fully benefit from Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Until 2025, all European households shall have access to connectivity offers of at least 100 Mbps (50% of households already until 2020).

In January 2016, the European Commission launched a 3-year project for Mapping of Broadband Services in Europe. It aims to develop an interactive online mapping application that enables visualization of Quality of Service (QoS) for all EU and EEA Member States.

The project will assess and monitor the achievement of the new connectivity goals in the framework of the Digital Single Market. The initiative will establish a central information hub on broadband services in Europe and has already connected more than 200 relevant stakeholders so far.

Data collection

The platform is building on existing data sets gathered from national public authorities and private international crowdsourcing initiatives, which are mapped for the first time on a European scale. Fixed and mobile data from theoretical calculations as well as measurements are taken into account.

The mapping application covers three different data sets all of which reflect Quality of Service (QoS) in different ways:

Data is collected at various spatial granularities ranging from small regions (Eurostat territorial unit for statistics NUTS-3) to grid cells and address points. To ensure data privacy, no IP addresses are collected within the scope of this project.

Challenges

There are many different approaches across Europe when it comes to mapping quality of service of broadband networks. The main challenge in this project is to benchmark and visualize the broad variety of data in one mapping application. Data differs in terms of initiatives’ intention, methodology approaches and collected values. Furthermore, it is difficult to find a common ground for spatial resolution for the heterogeneous data sets.

These challenges are tackled in close cooperation with experts from national authorities (including national regulatory authorities - NRAs - and relevant Ministries), European level bodies (relevant BEREC working groups), research institutes and key international organizations (International Telecommunication Union and the Internet Engineering Task Force) responsible for mapping initiatives or relevant technical work in the same field.

The project contributes to establishing a joint understanding of methodologies that leads to greater comparability of mapping initiatives at a European level.

Time frame

The data collection campaign started in October 2016. The mapping application will go online by the end of 2018. The application is being developed continuously, based on feedback from stakeholder consultations.

The study focused on national broadband mapping initiatives authorized by public authorities. An inventory of existing broadband mapping initiatives has been set up and information has been assembled. Major significance has the definition of the factors that determine how broadband mapping initiatives are functioning and what the cost of mapping is.

Types of broadband mapping

The modular mapping concept comprises four kinds of broadband mapping:

service;

infrastructure;

demand;

investment mapping.

Each developed methodology choice consists of two to four options to implement broadband mapping systems. Based on the results of the review section, every authority focusing on the set-up of a broadband mapping initiative can choose the best-fit option depending on their requirements.

Infrastructure mapping

Infrastructure mapping is the detailed, georeferenced, processing and visualisation of data about infrastructure, creating transparent access to relevant information. The aim is to reduce costs of broadband deployment and coordinate the measures as well as the possibility of synergy use in the deployment of broadband networks. To ensure an effective expansion and use of infrastructure mapping:

an obligation for the telecommunication infrastructure owner (with defined scope and content to be defined according to the requirements of each Member State) should be implemented to ensure legal liability and data contribution;

it shall focus on telecommunication companies as the data source to collect information on location and route, infrastructure type, current use and contact point;

exact points and lines are required in terms of spatial resolution.

the access to data shall be on a local level and set up with restricted access to avoid misuse.

Service mapping

Service mapping describes systems that gather, analyse and present information on the supply of broadband services available in a specific area. It provides an insight into the current state of broadband availability in order to assist in decision making processes. Both, service and infrastructure mapping initiatives use several formats of publication (e.g. static or interactive maps in public and other more restricted formats). To ensure the effectiveness of service mapping:

Demand mapping

Demand mapping focuses on gathering information on dimensions characterising the demand for broadband services. This category should be divided into two approaches: Mapping based on shortage or future needs and mapping based on the quality of services.

Demand mapping could provide a clearer view of the types of areas (white, grey or black) under examination for state aid (level of demand, range of price to be paid by willing consumers and required technical characteristics) while identifying market failure and changes required (e.g. whether, in fact, there is demand in white areas or whether there is unsatisfied demand in grey/black areas).

It is suggested to conduct such demand mapping on a regional level in correlation with state aid measures and their support.

Investment and funding mapping

Investment and funding mapping aims at gathering, processing and visualising information related to the financing sources and instruments for broadband funding. This kind of mapping refers to private or funded investments on a regional level and tracks information about efficiency of the past, current and future investments in broadband related infrastructures.

In terms of planned investments, it has to be split into funded and private investments

It is suggested keeping the mapping of planned private investments on a regional level based on the state aid guidelines (which describe measures to help inform relevant public authorities about future investments)

Review of existing broadband mapping initiatives

45 types of operational mapping initiatives in the EU 28 have been identified for the inventory by the Mapping of Broadband and Infrastructure Study. The research shows that most of the Member States are involved in at least one type of the broadband mapping approaches. Most of the initiatives have chosen to focus on service mapping and infrastructure mapping.